Monday, 10 November 2014

1000 Flowers for the Planet - #349 Make Your Own Furniture

1000 Flowers for the Planet - #349 Make Your Own Furniture

This Flower suggestion tugs at my heart strings a bit
because I had a great-aunt who lived a difficult life and was compelled to make
all her own furniture (during the mid 20th century). I admired her for
her tenacity and strength of character, but I also felt sad that she could
never buy anything new. She was an amazing woman. What she did for herself, we
can all do, not only for ourselves but for the sake of our planet. We may not
have to make every piece of furniture we need but it could be fun, even a
family project, to put something together with one’s own hands and be able to
say, “I made that.” Find things already lying around the house and garden that
could be put together and given a second life. Broken crockery could be used to
make a mosaic table top for the garden, with bits of wood or steel for the
base. You could have fun pottering through your local second hand dealers for
bits and piece too.

It’s also okay to buy new materials because this gives you
the chance to make informed choices, such as sourcing FSC timber or locally
produced metals, products made in your own country from local resources, or
simply supporting local businesses. You may find you enjoy the process of building
an item of furniture and that it is a lot cheaper than buying one already made.
Your choices can make a big difference to the environmental footprint of your
piece of furniture: reduced travel miles for resources and materials, a
consequent reduction in fuel usage, less carbon emissions, and support for
local industry and business. You may even find yourself a new hobby.

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About Me

I am a writer, emerging artist, quiltmaker and public speaker. My current art installation is a work in progress, titled "1000 Flowers for the Planet". Every day, for 1000 days, I will blog one flower with a positive suggestion for how we can improve the planet - environmental, social, moral and ethical ideas. Please join me on this journey, send me your ideas for further suggestions and feel free to comment. If everyone took up only 1% of the ideas (i.e. 10 new actions), imagine the shift in the world!!
www.margaretrowe.com.au